Lance McCullers meets adorable girl who said she wanted to marry him

Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. chats with Penny Boyle and her mother Jennifer Boyle before the start of an MLB baseball game at Minute Maid Park, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Houston.

Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. chats with Penny Boyle and her mother Jennifer Boyle before the start of an MLB baseball game at Minute Maid Park, Tuesday, April 3, 2018, in Houston.

Penny Boyle watches so much Astros baseball with her parents that she not only knows every player on the roster, but she already decided she was going to be best friends with several of the players and eventually marry Lance McCullers.

On Tuesday, the 4-year-old girl from East Bernard got a chance to meet those guys she'd previously only seen on her TV screen and on the pages of her Astros calendar she flips through daily.

In February, Penny's mother Jennifer recorded a video of her daughter reciting the names of all her favorite Astros, and Penny closed the clip by saying emphatically, "Let's go Astros. They won the World Serious. Lance McCullers is going to marry me." That was enough to make the short video go viral.

Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers met four-year-old Penny Boyle before Tuesday's game against the Baltimore Orioles at Minute Maid Park on April 3, 2018. Boyle recorded a video that went viral when she said she wanted to marry Lance McCullers.

Media: Matt Young, Houston Chronicle

After seeing the video during spring training, McCullers invited the family to a game. He got pregame field passes for Penny, her older sister Brooklyn and her parents Justin and Jennifer. As the family marveled at being on the playing field during batting practice and being so close to the players, McCullers emerged from the clubhouse.

"You playing in the dirt, Penny?," McCullers asked the girl whose cheeks had turned bright red from excitement and her onset of sudden shyness had her focusing on the red dirt of Minute Maid Park.

"She's definitely not shy at home, and definitely not in that video everyone saw. She picks now to be shy," Jennifer said with a chuckle.

Although her first trip to an Astros game has been all Penny has talked about for the past month, Justin may have been even more excited than his daughter. A wide-eyed Justin watched the Astros and Orioles warm up, pointing out who each player was to his daughter.

"This is all about Penny, but is it OK for me to say I'm pretty excited, too?," Justin said. "This is awesome. You hear about what a great guy Lance is and everything he does for kids, but then to see him in person. It's pretty incredible. He's a special guy."

Once McCullers emerged from the clubhouse to meet one of his youngest fans, he instantly was greeted by some members of the media who weren't entirely sure what was going on. McCullers kept any media talk short, instead choosing to focus on Penny and her family.

"I didn't do this for the media or anything," McCullers said. "I just wanted to do something nice for Penny."

In Penny's Astros calendar, her second-favorite photo is of Brad Peacock.

When McCullers heard that, he immediately texted his teammate. Minutes later, Peacock walked up the steps of the dugout to give Penny a big hug.

Before Tuesday, Penny's favorite Astro changed depending on the day. Some days it was McCullers. Some days it was Jose Altuve or Carlos Correa.

"Lance McCullers is my favorite player now," Penny said. "He picked me up and gave me a hug. We're friends."